Tony Stewart had to make a late move in order to claim victory last summer at Daytona International Speedway in the Coke Zero 400, and it seems that the three-time Sprint Cup champion wouldn’t be surprised if another one decides tonight’s battle at the “World Center of Racing.”

In the final lap of the 2012 race, Stewart powered past Matt Kenseth on the outside in Turn 2 and went on to take the checkered flag as a big wreck ensued farther back in the pack. In Stewart’s mind, the ability to pull off a move like that comes only after “a lot of trial and error.”

“Anybody that sits there and says they know exactly what to do at what time is pretty much lying to you,” said Stewart, who will start 13th in tonight’s race. “It’s guess work. A lot of it is just the right circumstances at the right time. You can do the right thing as a driver, but there is still 10 guys or 20 guys behind you that their scenario maybe different and may alter what your decision was.

“It’s very much – I call it ‘the Peyton Manning deal.’ You are constantly calling an audible in those last two or three laps. It may work [or] it may not work.”

Such is the completely unpredictable nature of restrictor-plate racing, but if anybody’s used to that – especially at Daytona – it’s Stewart. He’s won 19 times in his NASCAR career at Daytona, including four times in Sprint Cup (all in the Coke Zero 400) and seven times in the Nationwide Series. Needless to say, he’ll be a threat this evening under the lights.

However, it’s not yet known if, should he win, he’ll celebrate with a trend that he says he’s started: Soda cookies. He partakes of them in a recent Mobil 1 commercial while doing the splits, shocking his Formula One counterpart, Jenson Button.

On Friday at Daytona, he said that “some male gymnast” actually did the splits for him and that he had never tried soda cookies until the making of the ad.

“I can’t say that I have ever just sat down and grabbed a Coke and grabbed Oreos,” he said. “I’ve ate Oreos and then chased them with a Coke, but I can’t say that I have done a lot of dunking. It’s actually pretty good.”

Pirelli World Challenge could use a “face” of the series from a driving standpoint, and American Michael Cooper is a good candidate to fill that role for 2018.

Cooper, 27, has won PWC Touring Car, GTS and, most recently the SprintX GT titles within the series and has quickly blossomed into one of the series’ top GT stars.

It’s been a rapid rise for the Syosset, N.Y. native, entering into a world filled with series stars and champions such as Johnny O’Connell, Patrick Long, Alvaro Parente and a host of others.

But under O’Connell’s tutelage, Cooper admirably filled the rather gaping shoes vacated by Andy Pilgrim at Cadillac Racing, steering the Cadillac ATS-V.R to multiple race wins in the last two years – including a sweep of this year’s season finale weekend at Sonoma.

Cooper and Jordan Taylor were the model of consistency in SprintX this year, winning once at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and surviving contact at Circuit of The Americas to take that title.

The Callaway is a proven commodity in Europe but couldn’t run in the U.S. unless the path was cleared by one of GM’s factory programs to end a direct, potential head-to-head competition.

Moving from the Cadillac to the Callaway Corvette should be a natural transition, Cooper said last week.

“It worked out incredibly well that GM decided to allow Calloway to run the car in the United States and it created an opportunity for me that wouldn’t have been there otherwise,” he told NBC Sports. “I talked to a lot of other GT teams and at the end of the day, I felt like this was the best direction for me to be competitive next year and to also continue furthering my career with General Motors.”

Indeed Cooper has graduated from the Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R in GTS to the Cadillac and now to the Callaway Corvette. Cooper hailed the Cadillac team for what they did for his career growth.

“Working with Cadillac Racing has been instrumental in developing my abilities both on and off the track,” he said. “So I’m definitely a much more well-rounded driver now and have a lot of experience in the World Challenge GT field, so I kind of know what to expect going into that first race and going into that first corner in St. Pete.”

As noted, the car’s success in Europe means it’s a well-oiled machine by the time Reeves Callaway has worked with PWC to bring it Stateside next year. And as Cooper explained, discussions had been underway for a bit of time to ensure his presence in this car and team.

“I think the car is going to be extremely capable. It’s already won championships and races in Europe. I think, in bringing it over here, we’re going to hit the ground running straight away,” he said.

“Calloway had wanted me to come drive for them in July or August. We always kept in touch since then, and there was a lot of work trying to put together a program before they decided that they were going to do a fully fledged factory program. So once they made that decision, I think the pieces were kind of in place already, and the conversations had been had to be able to say ‘You’re going to be our guy.’”

December is late for IMSA programs to get finalized, but it’s relatively early for PWC, with the season not starting until mid-March in St. Petersburg. An extensive testing program should follow, as Callaway establishes its U.S. base and infrastructure.

“It’s definitely early for a Pirelli World Challenge program to be announced in December when we start racing in March. So that’s very good,” he said. “But, the team has a lot of work ahead of them in terms of getting infrastructure set up here in the United States, because a lot of their racing program has been in Europe. So, there will be a testing program, but they have to get the infrastructure in place first. But, we’ll be well prepared for St. Pete, I’m certain of it.

“Last year was the first year when I could sit back, kick my feet up, and know what I was doing next year. So, to be able to have everything done and be able to announce it this early on makes my life less stressful and now I can just focus on preparing myself and my team for next year.”